Elements of Happiness and Fear Of Love
by Penguin Mofo
Summary: Aang wasn't the only prisoner on Zuko's ship the day he was taken. Instead of just Katara, Sokka, and Aang in the beginning, let's add someone new, someone completely different of them. Caution: Blood and Cursing OC x Zuko (maybe onesided, maybe not)


**Wassap? I just made this because of plot bunnies, and I have one for every episode. So expect a series. Go ahead and read on.**

**Notice: Blood and Curse words**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OC and her story**

* * *

"Come on~! _Come on~!_" The old man egged himself on, willing himself to win his opponent. His counterpart chuckled and rolled their neck.

"Nice try."

**Boom!**

_**Crack!**_

The man's hand was in the air, lower than the table, because his opponent had broken the table in the process of defeating the man.

"heh, looks like you gotta pay up,_ old man_." The hooded figure walked over to the bar and knocked on the wood a few times before catching a bottle slid over to them.

"No fair! Uh, You cheated!" The man pointed to his opponent that was currently chugging down a beer.

The person wiped their mouth and glared at the old man, two light grey eyes filled with malice appeared through the shadow of the oversized material. The flames of the lantern on the table reflected the pigmentless irises making them look to be flame-filled.

"_Oh really_?"

The man shook. "N-N-Never mind!"

"Well? Get over here and pay up already!" The figure beckoned to the old man, who in turn slammed the money onto the bar surface. The figure grabbed the coins and paper and began walking out of the bar, but not before shouting to the man.

"Think fast!" The figure threw the half-finished beer over to the man, who caught it and looked over to the figure in awe. The figure turned back to the man, and the bottom of their face was visible, revealing soft pink lips and a feminine smile. They dropped their deep tone in favor to a young woman's voice.

"Finish that for me." The girl giggled and began running into the night, as the man began chugging down the bottle at losing to a girl, and a young one at that.

* * *

This fire-nation village was a sight for sore eyes. It wasn't like she was looking for this place or anything, as nomads rarely have a destination, but she grew up in a town like this, though it wasn't that there weren't many people, it wasn't very known. _A place nobody knows exists._ It may as well not, after the fire-nation raids. The girl shut her eyes tight and forced the images out of her mind. _Not here, not now. _

_"No, no,_ **NO**!" She stood straight again and looked around to see if anyone saw her. _Stupid emotions, I wish I could be a statue. No one cares if they just stare off into space . . . _She wiped her mouth and looked to the top of the building in front of her. _Doesn't look like anyone's home . . . I guess there's fine._

The girl began climbing the grooves in the wall of the building, since most homes had an open area in the roof, like a skylight, and she didn't feel like picking a lock or breaking a window right now. She reached the top of the two-story building, sighed, and wiped the sweat from her brow. "I_ really_ need to stop talking to myself."

The girl slid down into the hole. Dust clouded the room as she broke the barrier. She raised her shirt collar to cover her nose and mouth until the dust settled. "Damn. Who lived here?" She looked around, admiring the chests and paintings scattered around the small room. She looked back up to the skylight and realized just how small of a room it was, the ceiling was five feet high, but the center of the ceiling was raised, because this house had a pagoda roof. The skylight, was not built-in, but was made through wearing from the elements, and the rotting of the wood. "Hmm."

The girl found a small window that faced the ocean and spread a thick fur blanket from the cupboards and laid down, with a bundle of silk from a nearby box used as a pillow, and fell asleep with the sound of crashing waves replaying in her dreams.

* * *

"Uncle! I'm heading out!"

"Wait Zuko! I'm almost ready! I need to find some good Longjing Tea! I hear Emblem Island has the best tea leaves in the fire nation!"

"Just hurry up, I don't want to waste time on picking out your most comfortable shoes. I'll be at the docks."

"Yes, Prince Zuko."

The partly bald sixteen year old began walking the docks, seemingly ignoring the glares and faces of awe on the outside, and screaming on the inside. He let out a growl and continued walking until he reached the private beach only to be used by fire nation royalty, or those closely tied with them. He looked up to the family home he once enjoyed with his mother, the one where he used to live during his summers. While very uncharacteristic of himself, he decided on entering his house to take a stroll down memory road. He walked down the dusty old corridors, the cobweb clad bedrooms, until he found the door he had been looking for, the attic door.

This was his sanctuary from his witchy sister. It was his hiding place from his angry father, who was so keen on him perfecting firebending at the youngest age possible. He remembered screaming at the top of his lungs and locking the door behind him to separate himself from the smiling people running around at the beach. For some reason, he smiled at the memory. He tried the knob, which to his unadvantage, he didn't have a key to unlock. He rolled his neck and kicked the door open. To his surprise, he saw a girl on the floor. She was wearing clothes of colors from almost all the different nations.

She had a green crossed-collar blouse, with dark green trimmings that was cut from the shoulders and loosely tucked into black corset that looked like it was made of metal. She had dark blue pants, extremely baggy, and cut off by dark brown leather boots, a kind of shoe he had never seen before. Around her waist was a large, dark red jacket. She was sleeping on old sheets from an old box nearby. He stepped forward. Despite her still being asleep after he kicked the door open, he tip-toed towards the sleeping girl. Under her pale arms, was a head of long, dark red hair, the color matching the liquid running through her veins, loosely and hastily tied into a bun. On her face was a slightly perky nose, a full set of pale pink lips that looked as if they were lightly painted with makeup. Zuko knew that if she fell asleep in attics and wore such strange clothes, that she would not care about applying makeup. Her eyelashes were thick and long. _  
_

Zuko knelt to get a closer look at this peculiar looking girl. He focused his eyes on her sleeping face-

for less than a second before she screamed.

Zuko fell backwards from the shock, as did the girl. Zuko looked at the girl's eyes. They were extremely large, like, Ty Lee large. And they were a dark grey, a color he had never even _seen _in eyes before, whether from the air nation or not. She was pressed against the wall, her chest heaved and her bangs hung in strips down her eyes. Her full lips were slightly parted, her tongue just slightly visible. Zuko's eye(s) widened when he saw her confident expression. She got to her feet, while still crouching. Zuko matched her stance. Her hand darted to a large, olive canvas knapsack. She dove out the window. Zuko was curious if she was still alive, so he dashed to the window, just barely able to watch her flip backwards in the air before landing with her fist to the ground, and one knee standing and the other on the ground. She smirked up at him and began running past the small training area behind the house and into the bamboo forests. Zuko glared and watched the bamboo sway as she pushed them over to make a small path. _She didn't take anything. _Zuko thought as he looked around the dusty room. _Might as well let her go. _Zuko sighed and made his way back to the docks. He saw his uncle just leaving the ship with freshly cleaned and brushed hair and beard, a fresh set of clothes, and a smile on his face. _So he would've taken forever anyways. _Zuko sighed again and beckoned to his uncle. "Come on, let's go."

Zuko and Iroh walked towards the town trading area. They looked at the fish and baskets and all the other neat stuff made by fellow fire nation people.

"Oh! Here it is!" Iroh stopped and stared in amazement at the tea shop. Zuko smiled at his uncle. He continued moving and soon found himself at the town center. He looked around. People were rushing around, going to the real stores in actual buildings, including a recently opened bar. He rolled his eyes at the staggering drunks that stumbled their way into the establishment. He made his way to the bulletin board at the center of the town center. He found himself checking the wanted board. His eyes scanned the many papers, looking for something interesting. He stopped cold when he read _most _wanted. It was that girl. The sketch of her was a poor comparison of the real thing, but he could tell it was her. Her name was written as _Unknown _and her crimes were just _serious. _He gulped and walked back to his uncle. _  
_

"-And that one, and that one, and Ooh! That one too! That one right there! No-"

"Hey Uncle."

"Hey Zuko- NO! I said that one!" Iroh sighed and looked to Zuko, before smiling and rubbing his stomach."Have I told you how delicious Ember Island's tea is?" He smiled at a few people walking by. "Would you like some for yourself? I know you told me your favorite, They should have it here, what_ is_ your favorite?"

"Uncle." said Zuko softly.

"Is it Huqiu? No, maybe it's Liu'an." Iroh leaned over the counter trying to look at the many tea names displayed.

"Uncle." Zuko repeated, louder this time.

"It's Songluo right? No, that can't be right. Tianmu! That's it! That's definitely it!"

"Uncle!" Iroh looked at his nephew with surprise. "I, don't want, any tea."

"Oh, suit yourself!" Iroh pointed to a few more boxes before heading back to the ship. On the way, Iroh patted Zuko's back, earning his attention. "Prince Zuko. How about while they are loading up the rest of the supplies, we go and get something to eat. It's been a long while since we've had a sit down dinner on land." Iroh paused and patted his stomach. "Besides, Ember Island really knows how to satisfy a man like me!" Iroh released a hearty laugh and let his belly shake. Zuko couldn't help but chuckle a little at his uncle.

"Yea, that sounds nice, Uncle." After the tea was loaded into the kitchen to start preparing and the fire nation soldiers under Zuko's order would load the rest of the needed supplies. Iroh grabbed Zuko's wrist and lead him to a nice sit down area on a cliff. The tables were set up at the very edge so they could have the best view of the ocean.

"I like it here, it's so peaceful."

"We're on a boat, in the middle of the ocean most of the time, why did you want a view of the ocean?"

"I'm not here for the view." Iroh walked past the cloth above the entry to the restaurant. "I'm here for the food." He motioned to the buffet tables set in neat arrays, almost taking up all the space in the front area.

Zuko followed his uncle, picking up bits and pieces of food on his plate, it wasn't until then that he realized how hungry he was. As he followed his uncle back to the table Iroh had picked out. On the way out, Zuko saw the shopkeeper arguing with someone, he couldn't make out who because their head was covered with the cloth hung in the entry way. "Hmm." A gust of wind pushed past the cloth, making the person's face visible. It was the girl. She was arguing with the shopkeeper about something. The man stormed off, the girl going unnoticed when she swiped a small purse of coins from his belt. She pulled a bag full of food to her chest, a sad, grieving face plastered under the loose hair covering her facial area.

"Uh, I'm gonna head out for a little."

"But Prince Zuko, you haven't even touched your rice, or chicken stir fry."

"Just wrap it up for me, I need to go check something out."

"Whatever you say, Prince Zuko."

Zuko silently began following the girl, hiding behind buildings or trees whenever she turned around. He saw her peer at the people moving past her, _trying_ to figure out which one was following her. Zuko continued stalking behind the girl. He saw her stop at a store, but he waited outside. She began moving to a small foothill, where at the top was a tree. Zuko stayed behind about twenty yards, and watched her lay out first a blanket, then the food, then incense, then, a family portrait. She knelt on down and sat. Zuko heard a small voice carry through the wind, accompanied by the scent of food.

_Leaves from the vine, falling so slow.  
Like fragile, tiny shells, drifting in the foam._

The girl gulped and Zuko saw her bury her head in her shirt. She came back out and continued to sing._  
_

_Little soldier boy, come marching home. _  
_Brave soldier boy, comes marching home_.

She wiped her eyes and pulled out a small bowl and chopsticks. She picked small foods of everything. She looked like she was in heaven. Zuko felt horrible, when he pulled her hands behind her back, but still justified for the fact that she was wanted by the fire nation and he had witnessed her steal. What he didn't expect, was to feel _pain. _Actual _pain, _right _in his face. _He didn't realize until he opened his eyes that she had just punched his good eye. He looked back at her, still a bit groggy. She was urgently putting everything back into that knapsack of hers, then she slung it onto her back and tightened the straps. Before she could start running, Zuko pulled her leg, causing her to fall face forward. Zuko wrestled himself onto her back and pinned her arms together with a rope that he carried in his belt. She growled.

"_You bastard."_ Ouch. Zuko had to admit, it hurt. _  
_

"You have _no right _to speak to me that way, _rebel scum._ I am your _superior, _you _will_ obey."

"You have _no right _to act so mighty! All you are is a spoiled fire nation brat!"

"Then what are _you?"_

_"Your Enemy." _Zuko let out a small chuckle.

"Then it looks like you're in enemy territory, and I'll be taking you to prison." Zuko slowly stood, then pulled the girl up by her right arm. He held her by her upper arm while she was walking so she couldn't get away. What he was surprised with though, was that she didn't even fight back.

* * *

**4 months later.**

"Red! You need to learn some manners!" The fire nation guard sent another kick at the girl's bruised face. He stood at salute when Prince Zuko entered the room.

"Tell me, Red. When are you going to stop injuring your cellmates?"

"Fuck off, pretty boy." Blood dripped from her mouth as she talked. Another guard behind her smacked the back of her head with a baton. She bent even more forward from her position on her knees with her hands tied behind her back.

"Well?" She spat blood at him this time. Zuko cringed in disgust and wiped the blood on another guard's armor.

"I'll stop after I'm partnered with you, your highness. Or, I guess that name isn't really valid for you, is it?"

"Silence prisoner!" The same guard kicked her back, making her fall flat on her chest with the ground scratching her face. Suddenly, the whole boat lurched forward. Zuko smirked and pulled the girl up by her prisoner clothing collar.

"Well, it looks like luck is not on your side today, you'll be imprisoned with the _Avatar." _Her face turned blank with her lips slightly parted as she was lifted onto the shoulder of on of the guards, letting out not a sound, event though the guards purposely shook her.

* * *

"Hey! Red! Get your ass up!" The fire nation soldier banged on the cell door. He looked through the window to see the girl fiddling with a thick rope and making knots on the floor of her cell. She glared up at him, the fire from the lantern he was holding reflecting in her eyes. She rose her middle finger and focused back on her knot. He snarled and threw open the door. He brought his leg back and swung. She slammed into the back wall of her cell. He pulled her up by her arm and put ropes around her wrists.

"Let's go." He pushed her into a small boy wearing yellow and orange clothing. He was bald and had a blue arrow on his head. Her head tilted to the side and her eyebrows furrowed. The boy looked up at her with big brown eyes and a small smile. She was pushed into a line behind him and they started walking toward's her new holding cell.

"So, you guys haven't ever fought an airbender before, I bet I could take you both with my hand tied behind my back. " The girl stifled a laugh. _Cocky, just like him. _

"Silence prisoner." They stopped after they reached the end of the hallway. The girl didn't expect to be slammed from the front and back. She looked up to see the boy motion to the entrance.

"Come with me!" She nodded and ran after him. _He is an airbender! _She could hear him pant as they ran. Just after they left she heard a guard some ways away. _"The prisoners have escaped!"_ She smirked and continued running after the boy. She slammed into him, but not enough to knock hm down. She looked forward at two guards.

"You haven't seen my staff around, have you?" He paused before blowing more air at them and creating a path to run through. "Thanks anyway!" She chuckled again. They ran again. Another single guard waited for them ahead. The boy jumped and cut his rope with the guard's helmet. The girl rammed into him and continued running. As she ran, she cut her binds with a dagger she stole from the guard. She smiled wide and caught up with the boy who was peering into a room. He quietly closed the door and whispered "_sorry". _She held his right upper arm and started running. She pulled him into the room where she knew their stuff was. She frantically started pulling things out of their place, looking for her old knap sack. She stopped only when she heard the door close and lock behind her. She looked to her left to see the boy staring and clutching his staff. She completely turned to face Prince Zuko.

"Red, you will be _severely _punished for this. As for you, _Avatar._ It seems I underestimated you." The girl spotted her olive knap sack and darted to it, getting Zuko's attention so the boy could either flee, or attack. He did neither. She quickly swung the strap of the sack onto her arm and turned around as she felt the heat of a firebender's attack. She closed her eyes and waited for impact. Instead she felt a sharp cold breeze blow past her face. When she opened her eyes she saw the boy moving behind Zuko, making him quite the frustrated prince. She chuckled before getting into a stance and making large circular motions with her arms. Before any of them knew it, a rush of icy cold water crashed through the window, leaving a giant hole in the wall. She grabbed the boy who bended an air circle around them. She bended the water to push them out the window. The boy grabbed her waist and opened his staff. She was surprisingly light, and he was surprisingly strong, but when Zuko jumped and grabbed the girl's leg, they all crashed down. The girl landed on her feet, but the guys rolled to a stop. They all looked up when a monstrous grunt was heard from the air. They all looked up. The girl and Zuko shouted in unison. "_What is that?"_

The boy smiled wide. "Appa!"

Zuko grunted and shot more fire at the boy. The girl growled and ran into Zuko, punching his good eye. He staggered back before shooting fire at _her. _She tried to kick his face, but he ducked and pulled her leg out from under her. She swung her leg and tripped him. She sat on his chest and delivered punches to each side of his face, both of them grunting at each one. Zuko grabbed her arms and with his superior strength, threw her off the boat. He continued firebending at the boy, whom soon fell of himself. The girl, not actually of the boat but clinging to the edge watched him go down and jumped off herself. When she opened her eyes she saw the boy bathed in a blue light and waterbended herself out of the water, through the air, and back onto the ship. When she looked back up she saw the boy on the top of a pillar of water. He jumped back onto the ship and bended the water to blast everyone of the ship. The girl bended a barrier on her front, sliding backwards a few inches due to the force of the boy's bending. When he let up she released the water and stared at him wide-eyed. His eyes were glowing a light blue, as were his tattoos. The boy's eyes closed and he stumbled, but she ran to him and caught him. When he opened his eyes again, he saw the girl looking down at him much like Katara, except without the hopeful expression and more concern. For the first time he got a good look at her. She had long, dark red hair, big light grey eyes, strong but subtle features, and a pale complection. He could tell by her body that she was _a lot _more mature than Katara.

"Are you okay?" He saw Katara and Sokka appear behind her.

"Yea, I'm okay. Hey Katara, hey Sokka." The girl looked up at the two eskimo-looking people. She looked back down to the boy. "Can you get my staff?" She didn't have to turn around to know that the eskimo boy had gone to retrieve the staff, she could hear his bumbling footsteps. She saw his shadow and the younger airbender boy grab his staff. She started standing straight, holding the boy's hand to keep him steady as he followed. The boy looked up at the girl. She was Sokka's height, and her legs were long even for her height. Then he remembered her wrapping her arms around him and speaking a few weird words.

"You're a waterbender! And a really good one!"

The girl backed away, wide-eyed. She scratched the back of her head and smiled. "Well, not _really _good. I only know what my mom taught me and what I learned myself. Let's continue talking later, you better get going." She pushed the boy toward the Eskimos and nodded to the big white beast before frantically looking back at the unconscious guards.

The boy looked from Katara, Sokka, and Appa back to the girl. "Come with us!" She looked back to the guards who were beginning to stand. She mumbled a few words and made a few moves, sending water flying at the guards and freezing upon impact. She turned back and saw the Eskimo girl stare in awe before shaking her head and climbing onto the beast. The boy motioned for her to get on the beast. "Hurry! Get on!" She looked back one last time and jumped onto the furry creature. She helped the Eskimo boy onto the saddle thingy on the beast's back.

"Yip yip! YIP YIP!" To the girl's surprise the thing began to fly. She looked down to see Zuko and some old man bending fire at them. She stood and bended the cliff of an ice berg onto the ship and blocking the fire. She sat back down and looked back to the girl, still staring in awe. The Eskimo boy and the airbender laughed in triumph and waved.

* * *

"So, who are you? And why were you on the firenation ship?" The Eskimo boy bombarded the girl with questions.

"He's got a bunch of trust issues, doesn't he." The girl made a face and sat next to the Eskimo girl. She rolled her neck and spoke. "I was on the ship as a prisoner. Nothing serious, I was just witnessed stealing food. Nothing serious, just relax. My names Alexandria, just call me Alex."

The boy huffed."That's a weird name. I'm Sokka, and that's my sister, Katara." The Eskimo girl, _Katara,_ smiled brightly and offered to shake Alex's hand. "Nice to meet you, Alex." Alex accepted and smiled back.

"And I'm Aang!" The boy smiled hugely, showing all his teeth and completely squinting his eyes. Alex giggled.

"Nice to meet you, Aang."

They all just watched the clouds for a bit, before Katara started questioning Aang.

"How did you do that? With the water! It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen."

"I don't know. I just sort of, did it."

"Why didn't you tell us you were the Avatar?"

"Because-" Aang looked away. "I never wanted to be."

"But Aang, the world's been waiting for the Avatar to return and finally put an end to this war."

"And how am I going to do that?"

"According to ledgend, you need to master water, then earth, then fire, right?"

"That's what the monks told me."

"Well, if we go to the North Pole, you can master waterbending!"

"We can learn it together!"

Alex laughed. "Hey I need to learn too! I wanna master it!"

Katara looked back at Sokka. "And Sokka, I'm sure you'll get to knock some firebender heads on the way."

"I'd like that, I'd really like that."

"Hey, he won't be the only one." Alex took a swig of water from her sack, but spat it out over the edge of the beast, or _Appa, _as she had been told.

"Then we're in this together!"

"Alright! But before we learn waterbending, we have some serious business to attend to. Here, here, and here." Aang pointed to spots on a map.

"What's there?"

"Here, we'll ride the hopping llamas. Then_ way _over here, we'll surf on the backs of giant koi fish. Then back over here we'll ride the hog monkeys. They don't like people riding them, but that's what makes it fun!" Alex _ooh_ed and _aah_ed to each one. She sat straight and cross-legged.

"Sounds great, Kiddo. I'm all for it." Aang smiled widely at her for this.

* * *

**Heyo! Didja like it? I hope so! Please leave a review, anything will do. It only takes a few seconds. Alex is a OC that appears in many other universes, I actually have an idea for this and a crossover into _Supernatural_ cuz I put her into there to, and I'm just that weird. Anyways, review, favorite and follow! Please!**


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